Turkish Eggplant Casserole with Tomatoes (Imam Bayildi)

Fat’s gotten a bad rap for a long time in the wellness world. It’s not hard to understand why, given that its own name has become synonymous with muffin tops and cankles.

But having been raised on olive oil fried eggs and the philosophy that an avocado a day keeps the doctor away, I’m glad that people are finally putting down the fat-free SnackWells cookies and starting to reevaluate their healthy choices according to a different barometer.

Despite this progress, I still get criticized all the time for slapping the word “healthy” on my recipes alongside a few tablespoons of butter. And I still have to tinker with the amount of oil I use when developing recipes for fitness magazines like SELF, who live and die by the fat grams reported on their nutrition calculators.

Since I believe in real, unprocessed food, even if it contains pure fat, it’s hard for me to not feel like a hypocrite when I turn in a recipe for cheesecake with low fat sour cream and fat-free cream cheese, and just one measly tablespoon (if I’m lucky) of butter in the gluten-free crust. But mama couldn’t afford her own olive oil budget without these jobs, and sometimes you have to just bite your fat-forward tongue in order to please a client.

If you haven’t noticed by now, or gotten the picture from the above, I view fat as an essential nutrient, and I actively add it to my diet in healthy amounts and diverse forms. Like any food, too much of a good thing is, for lack of more technical nutritional jargon, bad. So I do try to switch up my oils from day to day, usually between olive, coconut, sunflower, flax seed, and canola.

But olive oil will always have my heart. Growing up, my mother had at least 5 large bottles of it on hand, and I would watch her blow through them in a matter of weeks. There’s a story in my cookbook about the way she would spoon-feed herself frozen peas in a bath of olive oil so deep, from far away, you’d think she was eating soup. Despite these questionable habits, my mother remains to this day, the most health-conscious woman I know. And she’s always ten years ahead of a trend, if her pre-millennial love of millet is any indication.

If there’s one fad that her life-long love of olive oil fits under it’s the newly coined “Mediterranean Diet”—otherwise known throughout eternity as the way Greek people eat. When I explore new cuisines, I love generically asking at restaurants for a side of “sauce” to see what they bring. In Greece, when I did this, what I got was a sauceboat of pure chartreuse-tinged olive oil. And I was more than fine with that outcome.

I make no apologies for the not-so restrained amounts of olive oil I add to all my recipes. And despite my justifications above, I certainly make no apologies for adding it in even looser volumes to the recipes I’m attempting to recreate from my Greek travels. I’m just adhering to the trends, people.

One of my favorite dishes from my recent trip was Imam Bayildi from a little Taverna in Hydra. The pan-fried eggplant casserole is technically a Turkish dish, but I saw it on plenty of menus throughout Greece. It’s baked with tomatoes, garlic, and herbs and served room temperature in a lasagna-like slab. One slice is so decadent and delicious in its simplicity, you might almost forget about your old friend from across the Aegean, Eggplant Parmesan. And she was a terrible influence anyway.

There are far worse dishes on the axis of food evil than a plate full of eggplant, olive oil and tomatoes. So for those of you who would rather eat fat than inject it into your face, here’s to a delicious (and healthy!!!) way to get your olive oil transfusion with a side of vegetables.

Eat up!

Xo Phoebe

4.6 from 5 votes

Print Recipe

Turkish Eggplant Casserole with Tomatoes (Imam Bayildi)

This Turkish eggplant recipe "Imam Bayildi" is a perfect vegetarian weeknight dinner. It's great for making ahead of time, as the flavors only get better. Inspired by The Greek Vegetarian.

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Lightly salt the eggplant slices and allow to stand for 20 minutes. Pat the slices dry and set aside.

Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large oven proof (preferably cast iron) skillet. Pan fry the eggplant in batches over medium-high heat until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Add more oil as necessary between batches so the eggplant doesn't burn, but try not to have too heavy a hand - the pan just needs to be greased. Remove the eggplant to a plate.

Add the onion to the skillet and saute over medium heat until soft, 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chili flakes, 1/2 teaspoon sea salt and cinnamon. Cook for one minute more, until fragrant. Carefully pour in the tomatoes and simmer until thickened slightly, 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in half the parsley.

If using an ovenproof skillet, remove 3/4 of the sauce to a bowl, leaving a thin layer behind. Otherwise, add 1/4 cup of sauce to the bottom of a 8x8 or comparable casserole dish. Arrange one layer of eggplant evenly in the bottom of the skillet or dish. Slather with a layer of sauce, and repeat with the remaining eggplant and sauce - like you would a lasagna.

Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 45 minutes, until the eggplant is very soft and the sauce has reduced. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before cutting into it. Garnish with the remaining parsley and serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

I streamlined this recipe by using an oven proof skillet to fry the eggplant, cook the sauce, and then make the casserole. If you don't have a cast iron skillet, feel free to use a casserole dish instead.

If you make this, tag @phoebelapine and #feedmephoebe - I'd love to see it!

The cinnamon is a surprise, and I guess that’s what makes it Turkish. I love eggplant because it soaks up its weight in olive oil, which is heaven to me. I would eat a whole eggplant myself in a sitting if it were not for the gastric payback. Must try this recipe!

Hi Larry! Thanks for making this so quickly! If you’re using a smaller casserole dish, cook time would be the same. The eggplant is pretty much cooked through after the frying process, so the baking really just makes it all the more silky, soft and reduces the tomato sauce. You can’t really under or overcook it too badly. So I’d just check on it after 15 minutes or so and if it’s easily pieced with a fork, feel free to take it out!

Hi, great recipe but misleading prep time/ cook time. The prep time says 20 minutes (which it roughly is) but you find out once you get to the bottom of the recipe that the dish needs to bake for 45 minutes. Wouldn’t have been an issue, but we had been hoping to fix a quick meal and this wasn’t as quick as it said it would be! 20+15+45 does not equal the same amount of time as 35 minutes!

Hi Katie, I’m sorry you had dinner on the table later than expected! It actually says the total time is 1 hour 20 minutes. I usually don’t count the inactive cooking (baking in the oven) under the cook time, just in the total time. Especially in the winter time, stews require many hours in the oven, but it’s not really hands on, so I think it’s helpful to have it separated out. Perhaps I should reevaluate my system though if this is misleading! Sorry you were confused. I hope that you enjoyed the recipe anyway! xo

I’m making this tonight for my boyfriend and I! Hopefully he likes it lol. I hope the eggplant isn’t too mushy after cooking it for 45 mins. We are trying to eat more healthy and the only thing that comes to mind with eggplant is parmasean so this was a breath of fresh air to see! Thank you!

I’m so glad you came upon this for a healthy option! It definitely hits those eggplany parm cravings. Let me know how you liked it. I don’t find the eggplant too mushy after the baking, but it’s definitely melt in your mouth soft. I love that though 🙂 xo

Found this on Finding Vegan and I need to go buy eggplant and olive oil to make this! I love how simple it is. My dad is Greek and I’ve spent many a night in tavernas eating imam, but forgot how much I loved it! I can’t wait to pair this with a crusty loaf of bread to soak up all the juices. Hmmm!! 😀

This looks delicious! I’m looking for something I can make tonight, but not eat until later in the week. This seems like a good candidate, and I can only imagine it gets tastier after sitting around for a while. Am I right? (Oh, and I’ll probably use a casserole dish, so I can just store it in the dish I baked it in.)

In the Middle East we make a similar dish and use pomegranate molasses and a little heat from jalepenos (or any hot pepper). It’s one of those things you see during casual, family meals and larger get togethers. It’s always a crowd pleaser!

mmm I love pomegranate molasses but it’s one of those condiments on my shelf that I never think to use! Do you have any good recipes? I’ve done a beef stew with it in the past, similar to a Moroccan tagine and it was great. Love the idea of jalapenos in this too!

This was AWESOME. The instructions were of great help. I was surprised by how much food came out of two medium eggplants…it was at least 3-4 meals worth. As a novice cook, I found this one to be pretty do-able and no hangups, especially considering that the taste and presentation (with the parsley garnish against the red tomatoes) were amazing. Thanks for the recipe!

Hi Phoebe, As I write these words, the tomato mixture is bubbling merrily away and the oven is hot and ready. We had this dish a few days ago at a restaurant in Napa, CA and LOVED it (my wife and are vegetarian). I trust your recipe will be as good if not even a touch better. I’d never heard of “Imam Bayaldi” before that meal and was getting just a bit weary of the garlic sauce chinese stir fry and parmigian versions employing the aburgine. Two slight editing suggestions for the recipe: 1) make a note of when to add the salt and 2) when to add the first portion of parsley. Well … gotta assemble and bake, now. Thanks for the recipe.

I made this recipe the other night for dinner, and LOVED it! One of my 2015 resolutions is to cook more instead eating out for dinner, which gets kinda tricky since i am vegan and boyfriend is not. But this dish was a total win! Thanks so much for sharing!

Hi, I am from Turkey and this dish is one of my summer favorites. Your pictures are great! In one of the comments you asked recipes for pomegrante molesses. I have another eggplant dish with it. It starts just like this; prep the eggplant and fry it the same way. You need to boil a cup of brown lentils until they are soft on the side. In a heavy bottom sauce pan saute a large onion, garlic and add the soften lentils and a can of tomatoes. Season to your taste with black pepper, salt and chili peppers and let it simmer until it gets thickened. Add 4 tablespoons of pomagrante molesses let it simmer 5 more minutes and use this sauce to layer eggplants with. I usually put it in the oven for the tastes to blend for 20-30 minutes. Hope you will like it!

Phoebe, I made this, and served it over Basmanti rice. It was so easy to make, and it was wonderful! Thank you so much! Imagine no cheese. Our new favorite eggplant recipe! Your site is amazing, and we plan on trying a lot of your recipes. I can’t wait. Denise

I found your recipe on Pinterest…I’m trying to master eggplants…have never really been confident using them but have now found this GREAT recipe. Cooked this tonight but also added a few extras, fresh rosemary, thyme & oregano along with fresh parsley as per your recipe plus a tspn sugar, strips of red capsicum fried 3 mins then added the onion, fried another 3 mins then garlic another 1 min then added thickly sliced mushrooms fried up for another 2 mins, added the tomato, sugar & herbs heated through, removed from pan, laid the eggplant in base of pan, put the rest of mixture back on top, covered in foil & baked for 45 mins in moderate oven…OMG! perfect..thankyou for the inspiration… 🙂

LOVE this dish–I’ve made it several times. One element that I added that others might want to try is preserved lemon. The first time I added 1/4 of a preserved meyer lemon. It was out of this world. The second time I added a whole one: too much of a good thing. 🙁

This is delicious! I love cinnamon, tomato and eggplant ~ I cook a Persian dish with similar flavors. This is perfect to help me continue on a dairy free diet and will be my substitute for eggplant parmesan.

I made this recipe tonight, and it was delicious. I love olive oil and eggplant, but trying to keep my weight down. Bertolli puts out a pure olive oil spray so I sprayed the pan and each piece of eggplant. Before turning the pieces over I sprayed each piece again. It worked wonderfully. While it was more oil than usual. It wasn’t as much as using oil from the bottle. This was really delicious, and when I pinned the recipe I found my grand daughter had also pinned it. I’ll call and tell her it was delicious. Thanks Phoebe.

Just harvested our last eggplants and made this dish. It is divine- I wish I new about it and the beginning of eggplant season! Thanks so much. I will definitely revisit your site for more delicious recipes.

YUM! This was so buttery and silky. No knife needed for this recipe! I made a side of turkish potatoes and greens and had some crusty bread with the meal. This recipe is a keeper for sure. Have leftovers which I’m looking forward to scoffing at lunchtime 😉 Thanks for a great recipe!

This looks amazing! Just got lots of eggplant from my CSA and want to make this for dinner tomorrow. Do you think I could assemble this tonight and just stick it in the oven tomorrow night? I get home from work pretty late and don’t want to delay dinner too much. Thanks!

Absolutely Divine!! Didn’t read any other comments – maybe it’s already been noticed!! The cinnamon is the key secret ingredient to make it actually Taste Turkish, and so absolutely yummy!!

Got off the plane at 2 pm, from Turkey, grocery shopped for all my favorite Turkish recipe – eggplant namely, came home to our beautiful village of StAntonin Noble Val, found you and your recipe. On the table by 7 pm. Heavenly, like I’m back in Turkey!! Thank you!!

I am SOOO thrilled! I’ve been looking for this recipe for a long time, after I had it in a South Asian restaurant 10 years ago! Had no idea it was Turkish – that’s why I didn’t find it, I guess. Just made it, and it turned out so delicious – just like I was hoping for. Thousand thanks for this! 😀

HiI just made this tonight for dinner with my vegetarian friend and it turned out fantastic! I used cilantro instead of parsley and added crumbled feta as a garnish on top of brown rice and fresh salad on the side. It was amazing! Thanks so much for the share!!!

Love this recipe! I made the sauce with fresh roma tomatoes and added two ‘dashes’ of cinnamon to enrichen the dish. You are so right. I forgot all about eggplant parmesan. This is so much healthier and delicious! It is going to be a staple in my kitchen. Thank you sooooo much!

Thank you for this recipe! While it was a bit epic in terms of frying the eggplants, the final flavour was divine! That tomato sauce is just amazing, and I’ve kept the recipe for it to use with other dishes. Yum yum yum 🙂 I served it with some lemon and dill pearl barley, and it was an absolute hit. Thanks again!

Thank you for posting this recipe. I made it for dinner last night and it was excellent. Very simple directions. The combination of the eggplant and olive oil baked into a melt in your mouth buttery piece of heaven with just enough bite. I served it with pan toasted flat bread, and it was divine. Thanks again.

thank you for reminding me of this yumminess! Is is one of my favorite dishes from my childhood, the best summer dish when the eggplants were at its best, my mom would fry them whole(pierce with a fork so it won’t explode) and then stuff them with the onion/tomato mixture….sprinkle some more fresh parsley on top and voila! It’s one of those dishes where no one even misses the meat. I am always been surprised how Americans don’t utilize eggplants more… My other favorite is to cut them into half inch thick slices, fry until golden, season with salt, layer on a platter and drizzle yogurt sauce on top (yogurt, minced garlic, crushed walnuts, salt and pepper) and then top with good amount of fresh cut dill on top!

I love this dish. I’ve made it several times, I even have a sheet of paper with this recipe pinned in my kitchen. It’s simply perfect. Even my boyfriend, aka the ultimate beef lover ,praises the Imam bayildi. Only thing I do differently – i use my own tomatoes, not diced, simple puree i make over the end of summer in military – like quantities and store in the basement. But imam is so good, so sinfully delicious that we eat it with pasta, bread, amaranth-flour crepes [my favourite], rice and many many other grain sides. Thank you so much for posting it. Greetings from Poland 🙂

This looks delicious! My only comment is a slight correction to your description of a Mediterranean diet. It actually encompasses Greek, Italian (mostly southern), and Spanish cultures. If you have to preview comments before allowing them to be posted, no need to post this! I just wanted to help 🙂

I made this and it was really good. There was definitely a very scant amount of sauce, I would double the sauce in the future. I added a dash of grated Parmesan cheese to each layer and some breadcrumbs on top but it’s not necessary at all. Feta would have been way better but I didn’t have any on hand. This is a perfect dish to adapt for weight watchers, btw. Just roast/broil the slices of eggplant w/o oil and the whole thing is basically free for points plus users, I’ll probably do that next time because cooking the eggplant on stovetop takes forever. Subbing the cinnamon with Italian herbs would be a good way to make it Italian or grab some Baharat for a more Mid East flair. So many possibilities!

I always soak the eggplant in salted water for at least an hour then rinse, squeeze the eggplant as much as possible to get the water out. When you squeeze you don’t want to make mush of the eggplant though… I think this method makes the eggplant cook much better. I was told the direct salting method was for when you were running out of time and needed to work fast.

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I’m Phoebe: gluten-free chef, culinary instructor, Hashimoto’s advocate, & author. I’m obsessed with the sweet spot where health and hedonism intersect, in the kitchen and beyond. And I want to help you find it too. READ MORE ABOUT PHOEBE